Autumn in New England

It’s been written- without light, color does not exist. Whomever wrote that never experienced autumn in New England. Even on a dark, cloudy day, you couldn’t paint prettier hues. The exquisiteness of autumn is as close to heavenly visions you’ll find on earth, don’t you think? I’m looking out my window at the display of golds, burnt umber and bright reds and my eyes are dazed. It’s that crisp, clean air coming down from Canada that makes autumn so vivid. It can be hypnotizing!

Vermont

I always felt that summer was my favorite season, and as lovely as it is, summer is predictable. You know it’s going to get hot, that’s what summer does. Now fall, you never know what you’re gonna get. And Indian summer is the perfect example of that. You don’t expect it every year, but when it comes, it’s like OMGOSH, it’s soo nice out! Let’s do something! And the warmth feels soo good on your face, doesn’t it?

Photo credit Pinterest

My husband Mark and I travel up the east coast every October, and Vermont is the prettiest this time of year. Apple picking and antiquing is the plan with lots of pit stops in between—family-owned farms, fruit stands and century old general stores on charming country roads. Grocery list- tree-picked apples, cider donuts, and homemade apple pie. And the donuts are served warm! Need I say more?

So, I made an apple tart from the apples we picked over the weekend. I used the puff pastry sheets you get at the market and filled it with a mixture of Granny Smith and Cortland (wasn’t crazy over the Cortland) sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, flour and lemon juice. Most recipes call for a heaping amount of sugar but I only used a few tablespoons but lots of cinnamon. I love the taste of just the apples without too much sweetness. So, here it is and it was yummy! PS. I much prefer more of a tart apple like Granny Smith. The Cortland’s were a bit blasé. McIntosh are a softer apple, but tasty for baking.

Recipe

First, I made the puff pastry version and since it’s much smaller than a pie, I cut the recipe in half. If you prefer to make the full pie, use the recipe as directed.

Toss the apples with the sugar, flour, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and spices. Set aside at room temperature.

Roll out puff pastry and add filling mounding them in the middle. Brush egg white on all sides, (this acts as the glue) and loosely roll the dough over on all sides to cover apples. Now, mine was over-stuffed, so I got creative- using scissors, trim off a bit of the sides to make a crisscross pattern.

Seal the edge by pressing the top and bottom crusts together with your fingertips, then tuck the edges underneath. Crimp the edges, and cut 4 or so vent holes in the top crust. ( since I had a wide opening no venting was necessary. Brush the crust with the egg white and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.

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